


Little Bird

by iiSolari



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: F/M, Tags Contain Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:13:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26811952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iiSolari/pseuds/iiSolari
Summary: Annamaria Alanis is a renown murderer, although not for the murder of innocents. However, now she's in the sights of the Shelby's, after being hired on by Alfie Solomons.
Relationships: Arthur Shelby & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

The only thing that the man could focus his attention on was the dulcet tunes that carried and bounced off of the walls in the room. Sultry to one who would pay immediate attention, but terrifying to those who were in a situation such as the one he had found himself in.

Whimpering, whining. Quivering beneath the binds that had kept him pressed against the chair that he had awaken in. He damned himself quietly, knowing well that it was his own doing that permitted this sort of scenario. The woman was beautiful, and was easily noticeable throughout the sea of bodies in The Eden Club.

No one could pin point as to who she was. That should have been the first warning. However, his own curiosity had seemed to steer his judgement.

Now he had been paying the price. Blood seeped into his dress shirt, the fabric that he had donned for the occasion at The Eden Club clinging to his skin. Whatever stability that he had left in his system was slowly beginning to disappear, as the idea of him being killed began to seem more and more clear.

What a wild woman, to kidnap and torture a man employed by Darby Sabini. In any other situation, he would have been impressed. However, since it was him tied to the chair, he could feel the inevitability crawling its way up his spine.

His fading eyes settled on the figure standing in front of him, visibly disturbed by the casual behavior that she had displayed for him. Beating him, demanding information that he had very gladly given. All just to end like this, listening once more to the voice that had hypnotized him closer.

She turned slowly in her heels, the blurring vision only making it so he could focus on the clicking that they had made on the ground. She was wiping off something in her hands, a knife that was decorated in his blood collected from their little adventure together.

She has the blade of it between a cloth, wiping the substance off of it casually as her eyes stare evenly down at him. Despite his damaged state, her clothing remained clean and untouched. There was a few droplets, sure, but nothing that wouldn’t be covered by the overcoat she had been wearing when they left the club.

There’s a moment of silence as her eyes traverse her work, the once gentle noises leaving her lips beginning to cease and slow. Her lips purse, exhaling as she prepares herself for what she knows she has to do.

“Do know that your death will not be for nothing, and I hope it brings you a form of peace you couldn’t achieve,” she states clearly, her sweet voice lowered with hostility spilling.

Before he could choke out another plea, her hand swiped across his neck. Quick, painless. She watched as his eyes began to haze, and the last bit of breath left his lungs.

Another job, finished.

Anna contorted her face distastefully at the scene, turning around once again to the array of tools that she had brandished for the event. She swiped at the blade once more to clean as much as she was able, so the blood didn’t seep through the covering that the tools had been hiding in. She places it back in the empty spot, rolling the black fabric that they were in closed. She pulls the black leather bag off of the ground, slipping her tools inside so that she would not be carrying them in the open.

She picks up her rumpled maroon long coat, putting her arms through the sleeves with ease. Once settled on her shoulders, she props the handles of her bag in the crevice of her elbow, exhaling softly as she eyes the souvenir that she put aside to leave behind. A songbird feather, so Sabini knew that she had been circling.

Everyone knew what the songbird feather meant. It made them all very nervous, and made them watch over their shoulders. It was a reputation Anna did not expect to gain, but was thankful she did. It made her job quite easier, after gangs began to destroy themselves from the inside.

She had a note to go along with it this time, considering that Sabini continued to ignore her threats even after the first couple of infiltrations.

The Songbird sings. Simple. To the point.

She gently takes the feather between her thumb and forefinger, moving to the slouched figure that she had interrogated. She slides both of the belongings into a pocket, so when that he would be searched they would see her calling card.

And hopefully begin to tear their family apart from the inside out.

Once her deed was done, she makes sure she looks presentable before she begins to click her heels out of the abandoned room. It was time to report back to the person who had requested her services.

Camden Town was just as shoddy as it usually was. Anna felt a bit relieved when the bustling atmosphere didn’t seem to cease. It meant she hadn’t been caught yet. Word hadn’t spread. So she walked casually down the road, humming quietly under her breath. Wandering ears turned to listen to her tones, and while others continued to work amongst themselves. Wheeling barrels, shoveling, whatever the task may have been.

She makes a turn into a building, slowly scaling down a set of stairs surrounded by brick walls. Someone comes to the other end of the stairs, quickly, and extends their hand to help her finish her descent. She accepts the help with a charming smile, and bows her head just a bit in introduction.

“Thank you, Ollie. Where can I find Mr. Solomons?” She inquired, her eyes connecting with his once she was on ground level.

“He’s in a meeting right now, but he told me to let you pass,” Ollie says, shooting back a gentle smile and dropping her hand once she was comfortable.

She returns a nod in understanding, peering at him from under the brim of her hat. “Is he in his office?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he immediately replied.

“Thank you, sweet Ollie,” Anna beams and begins to proceed forward. She knew the layout of Alfie’s ‘bakery’ quite well, having been requested by him quite a few times throughout the years to help him clean up the war between him and Sabini. She ignores the couple of wandering eyes as she gracefully flits past, and in a matter of seconds she has his office in her sights.

Facing toward the door was Alfie, leaning forward intently in his chair as he tirades along to the poor soul who was forced to listen. From the back, Anna could see the figure had dark hair with a matching coat. They were leaned back comfortably, hands folded on their lap.

“That war was a long time ago. You need to be more realistic,” the stranger told Alfie, their voice low to ensure the privacy that they thought they had.

“’Realistic’, yeah? ‘Realistic’?” Alfie folds his hands in front of himself. 

“If you weren’t losing the war, you wouldn’t have sent me the telegram,” the stranger replies.

Anna knew what this would carry into. She just brings her bag down in front of herself, holding the handles with both hands as she awaits Alfie’s attention and call to make herself known.

“Really? You forget your fuckin telegram. It’s very simple, you want to sell me something. What?” Alfie replied to the dark figure quickly.

“We join forces-”

“Fuck off,” Alfie quipped instantly.

“Mr. Solomons,” the figure leaned forward in their seat. “Your distillery provides one-tenth of your income. Protection is another 10%. The rest you make from the tracks. I know what I’m saying makes you… angry. But I’m offering you a solution.”

Alfie swipes his palm down his chin as he listens, his expression growing more uncomfortable with the idea the longer it settled.

“People don’t trust your protection anymore,” he tried to push on, but Alfie raised a hand to silence him.

“They do now more than they did before,” he quipped back, and looked up to connect gazes with Anna. He knew she had been standing there, but was looking for the best time to bring her inside. Now had been it.

So Anna takes off her hat politely so they could both see her face, stepping inside of the room. The stranger looks up as she loops around to move closer to Alfie, figuring staying close might ensure that nothing were to occur in this room.

“Anna, this is Thomas Shelby,” Alfie introduced, casting a steely look in Thomas’s direction.

Anna moved her attention to him when the name had been dropped, instantly recognizing it. The Peaky Blinders were a legend in the streets, a name that she had so vehemently believed she needed to avoid in order for her job to go smoothly. Now here they were, taking up space in Alfie’s distillery.

“Pleasure to meet you,” she says to Thomas through her teeth.

“Thomas Shelby, this is Anna. The Songbird, as you might know her by.”

Tommy’s expression seemed to contort into that of aversion and intrigue. Two vastly different emotions, all combined into the way his blue eyes seemed to observe her. She could only reply by casting a bit of a sheepish smile, her identity not being something she wanted to be revealed to the very people who run Birmingham by the horns.

“Songbird, eh?” He says quietly, and a bit skeptically.

“Fuckin’ right, she is,” Alfie boasted. “Just came back from a job I put ‘er on. One of Sabini’s officers, it happens to be.”

“I left them in the abandoned warehouse,” Anna replied simply. “Sabini should find them in the next hour.”

“Atta girl,” Alfie grins and leans back in his chair. His expression changed once it landed back on the Shelby boy, eyeing Tommy with a confident glare. “Now. Let’s hear your plan.”


	2. Eden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna's stalk goes wrong as the Shelby's assert themselves.

The meeting with the Thomas Shelby seemed to have gone well. Within the span of a few days, Anna began to notice more bodies come in to assist with Alfie’s bakery. Some were strictly for that purpose, others were power to force Darby Sabini out of his territory. While Anna had done a lot to warrant Sabini’s chagrin, a little bit of extra nudge didn’t seem to be too troublesome on her end.

So here she was, in The Eden Club, making her final push for her next target. Judging by the lack of attention she got on entry from Sabini’s crew, they weren’t close to figuring out that she had been the femme fatale to put a swift end to their superior officers. She looks down at herself quickly, eyeing the red dress that she had donned for the occasion for any immediate flaws that would render her distasteful, and sighed in relief when she did not notice anything out of place.

Her dark eyes wandered the room in curiosity, watching as the various pairs of bodies spun and kicked in circles to the beat of the jazz that bounced off of the walls. Everyone, grinning and tossing themselves around to the thump of the drums. The music steered everyone to their own momentum, and Anna found it all chaotically poetic to observe.

However, no matter how much the sounds made her want to spring up and dance, she had to force herself to stay in her seat. She wasn’t here to have fun, herself. She was here to make sure that Mario had breathed his last.

She continued to observe around the room, her eyes flitting over the faces of the guests that had decided to come in tonight. Trying to find the club owner, and see if he had partied up with anyone spontaneously. She notices an entrance by the bar rise open out of the corner of her eye, and her attention flickered over to the sudden movement.

Right on schedule. Mario stepped out into the animated populace, in his usual suit that he sported to announce his ownership of the club. Anna begins to fix her hair, puckering her lips as she did so to ensure the rouge that she had decided to wear had stayed put. When she felt a little more presentable, she crosses one leg over the other and puts on her best doe eyes.

She was hoping the feigned innocence would be tantalizing enough for Mario to approach, to give her a summary as to what The Eden Club was. How he ran it. Whatever information that she needed to listen to in order to draw him closer.

It seemed to work. Mario, when his eyes skimmed across the crowd of people, seemed to stop when they landed on her. The lone, sanguine clad woman in the corner of this disorderly scene. With a fur overcoat slung a little lower across her shoulders and a pair of black strap heels.

And like a dream, her smile seemed to call him forward. Away from his entourage that had followed him out of the door that lie to the left of the bar.

Her target was now in her sights, stepping forward with the utmost curiosity in his eyes. Wondering who she was, from what Anna could tell. Eventually, the distance had closed, and he was standing in front of her with an attempted charming smile stretching across his face.

He tried to open his mouth to speak, but heard a crash by the entrance of the club.

Instantly, Mario and Anna’s attentions both fell on the discord that began to erupt. From what Anna could see, there were bodies and glass bits flying in multiple different directions. Screaming and shouting filled her ears, causing her to rise quickly and scoop up her bag that she had her tools in. Closer and closer, the lawless behavior grew, and eventually Anna could see that Sabini’s men were being swept up and slammed on tables or walls. Anything close that could break, the Italians were put through, and soon they would end up right in front of Anna.

So she moves to the left, closer to the wall so she could properly weave around the feuding. Her coat gets shrugged up properly to her shoulders, to lose her sultry appearance, in hopes of not catching the attention of the people who had decided to come crashing through the club.

“Mario!” she hears one of them call, which causes her to curse under her breath. Here she was, stuck on the high rise with Mario nearby. The most compromising situation that she could picture, was beginning to slowly play out right before her eyes.

Mario tries to swerve out of sight line and down the steps, but pauses when he registers that someone from the opposing party had gotten close enough to be considered dangerous. So he comes back up, moving past Anna to try to head down to the right side of the rise. He staggers in his tracks, once a black-clad man in a page boy hat shot up and began throwing punches at the surrounding Italians.

Anna decided to sneak back so she was out of the immediate line of fire, standing next to the bar and waiting for an opening. Despite the discourse around her, her face was orderly and calm. She had to be, if she were to spot an easy way out through the screaming crowd.

“Mario!” the voice says again, this time only much closer. The proximity causes Anna to turn her head at the man who seemed to tunnel the club owner, having strode clear past her. 

From what Anna could see, his eyes were wild. His slicked back hair had fallen out of place due to the velocity of which he had been moving. His suit and coat was wrinkled due to his rapidly changing movements, however nothing seemed to fall completely out of pace.

The figure closes the distance on Mario, who swung around to see who had called his name so closely. Immediately, he gets a bottle connected to the side of his face, the glass shattering instantly. Due to how close Anna had been, it causes her to stagger back so she didn’t get hit by any of the pieces that scattered off of Mario’s head.

She watches, as the opposing force grabs Mario by the back of the jacket with a confident “come here”. He bends Mario at the waist, slamming his head against the bar and dragging him across. Whenever a glass or a bottle came in sight, he jerked Mario forward with enough force to shatter the glass.

During this time, she decided it would be a smart idea to back away. She turns casually to the stairs of the rise, stepping down them slowly. She weaved around a man who had been thrown to the ground by one of the infiltrators, and she cursed quietly to herself as she made her way around the perimeter of the club. Through the scuffle, she hears the man she saw earlier talk about Sabini’s day being done, but she didn’t bother tuning into the rest.

Frankly, this whole situation had her quite annoyed. She was going to use Mario to get more information about Sabini, so she could provide at least a bit of information for Alfie. So her time here hadn’t been wasted.

It felt like forever, getting around the clamoring public to get to the exit. Everyone was trying to push out at the same time, and due to where she had placed herself for attention she had been at the back. So she turns, to get one last look the situation that she had to evacuate from.

“This place is under new management!” the stranger she practically brushed shoulders with states clearly, holding a bleeding, dying Mario upright so everyone could get a better look at him. To make an example of what it meant to go against whatever organization he had allegiance to. 

He shoves Mario down roughly to the floor, Anna witnessing the, now previous, club owner drawing his last blood-filled breaths. He leaned closer to the microphone, his eyes flitting around the discordance that he had created, and parts his lips to speak. “By order of the Peaky Blinders.”

Anna pursed her lips. Alfie meeting with Thomas, the amount of bodies that he pulled for this sort of power. It all began to make sense in her head. They meant to push out the highest forms of Sabini’s power. Which meant stepping all over her work. She understood, though. Her work was slow paced in order to make sure everything had gone without problems. This way was much quicker, with much more lasting results.

The man on the stage seemed proud. His eyes, animalistic in all forms, continued to observe the screaming bodies that tried to push themselves out of the club. Leaving him, the men that had run in with him, and then Anna at the end of the stream of people moving for the exit. His lips spread into a matching grin, however it seemed to falter when they landed on her.

Something about her demeanor had been intriguing. The way Anna had seemed to retain her calm, when everyone had been screaming around her. Her eyes peered disapprovingly over the fur on her shoulders. He wanted to get to know who she was. He was curious about her lack of reaction, her steely gaze unwavering against his primal agitation. It was almost like she had been judging him while maintaining her poise.

Before he could collect himself accordingly, Anna broke her stare and turned before strutting out of the mess that the Peaky Blinders had been so willing to create.


End file.
